Patsy Dan Rodgers, King of Tory, discusses his mobile optimised website with
Dr Mary Attenborough, Michael Gallagher and Roisin Moran Brady of The
Webbery as they arrive on the island. Photo by alanlavander.com
A COMPANY which helps provide remote internet access to locations have been given a special welcome – by the 11 pupils of Scoil Cholmcille Oilean Thoraí – Tory’s national school.
“In the 1970s, the government attempted to implement plans to close down Tory Island because they clearly believed it was in the middle of nowhere – but that’s definitely not true today”, said Dr Mary Attenborough of The Webbery when addressing the school students.
The Technical Director and two other members of the web development company, based in An Fál Carrach, visited the school this week to launch their mobile website development.
Roisin Moran Brady told the pupils about her great-great aunt Nora Sweeney, who taught at the school in 1915 and now that The Webbery is responsible for the island community’s website, the family connection has spanned almost a hundred years.
The media consultant for the family business then invited the students to think about how advances with computers and the internet have transformed the opportunities for the island residents in the last century.
“Our ancestors emigrated to America and all around the world but now there are so many areas of work that can be done right here on the island because of the internet,” she said.
Remote working suggestions from the 11 pupils, aged between six and twelve, ranged from online selling and internet marketing to programming and app development.
Fifth Class student Padraig Duggan proposed that even a physicist could work on Tory by communicating and researching projects online.
Dr Attenborough went on to speak of their company’s success in remote working which now develops and provides active support to over 400 small business websites throughout Ireland. She then joined with the class to play the Internet Fact Search Game, based around domain name protocols, that she designed specifically for the children.
“The pupils’ enthusiasm for new technology was palpable, but no more so than their pride in the old traditions,” said operations manager Michael Gallagher, as the children’s poignant rendition of the Tory Island anthem ‘Amhrán na Scadáin’, (‘The Song of the Herrings’), brought an end to the visit.
“Tory Island isn’t in the middle of nowhere. With the island online, Tory really is in the middle of everywhere”.
Googled out – the students of Scoil Cholmcille Oilean Thoraí relax with
tablets and smartphones after playing the Internet Fact Search Game along
with Dr Mary Attenborough, Michael Gallagher and Roisin Moran Brady of The
Webbery, School Principal, Anna Meehan, and School Secretary, Noreen Meenan.
Photo by alanlavander.com